Arabidopsis Research Roundup: March 9th

This Arabidopsis Research Roundup has five papers that includes two from the John Innes Centre and two from the University of Edinburgh. Firstly Kristen Bomblies’s group at the JIC have investigated the relationship between temperature and meiotic recombination rates. Secondly Veronica Grieneisen and Stan Maree have developed a mathematical model to characterise cell morphologies taken from a 2D image. Andrew Miller from Edinburgh is a co-corresponding author on a study that shows how the Arabidopsis proteome changes in different photoperiods. In the fourth paper Peter Doerner is a co-author on work that looks at the phosphate starvation response. Finally researchers from Bristol and Nottingham contribute to an investigation into a novel genetic component that controls auxin-induced root hair development.

Kristen Bomblies (John Innes Centre) leads this study that investigates the influence of temperature on meiotic recombination rate. They show that in Arabidopsis the number of crossovers positively correlates with increasing temperature. However the mechanistic explanation for the increase at higher temperatures remains opaque as, in contrast to findings from other plants, synaptonemal complex length negatively correlates with temperature.

Veronica Grieneisen and Stan Maree (John Innes Centre) lead this study that has developed the Lobe Contribution Elliptical Fourier Analysis (LOCO-EFA) method. This generates meaningful descriptors from a 2D image of cells that can then be linked to morphological features. This tool allows for the efficient phenotyping of cell morphologies that they demonstrate by analysing images of Arabidopsis leaf pavement cells. They extend this analysis to larger populations where they used LOCO-EFA to predict how cell shapes change when they move into a more crowded space.

Andrew Miller (University of Edinburgh) is the corresponding author on this collaboration with German and Swiss colleagues that compares the Arabidopsis proteome across four photoperiods. They shows coordinated changes across the proteome, most notably at longer photoperiods in the abundance of proteins involved in photosynthesis and metabolism. They show higher translation rates during the day that correspond with the increased RNA abundance that is a characteristic of circadian rhythms. This ‘translational coincidence’ describes the alignment of higher translation rates with high transcript levels and they assigned a mathematical model in an attempt to explain this phenomenon.

Peter Doerner (University of Edinburgh) is a co-author on this global study that characterises the phosphate starvation-mediated induction of the HAD-type phosphatases PPsPase1 (AT1G73010) and PECP1 (AT1G17710). They show that expression of these genes closely follows phosphate status but that their activity does not alter phospate content. The role of these proteins is to control phosphocholine and phosphoethanolamine content, which is a output of changing phosphate conditions. The authors conclude that expression of these genes can be an excellent molecular marker for the phosphate starvation response.

This Belgian-led study includes contributions from Claire Greirson’s and Malcolm Bennett’s labs in Bristol and Nottingham respectively. They investigate the role of the ERULUS (ERU) protein, an auxin-induced receptor-like kinase, during the development of root hairs. ERU localises to the apical root hair plasma membrane and regulates cell wall composition by altering pectin dynamic. The authors conclude that ERU is a key regulator of auxin-mediated control of root hair development.

This Arabidopsis Research Roundup has five papers that includes two from the John Innes Centre and two from the University of Edinburgh. Firstly Kristen Bomblies’s group at the JIC have investigated the relationship between temperature and meiotic recombination rates. Secondly Veronica Grieneisen and Stan Maree have developed a mathematical model to characterise cell morphologies taken[…]

The first two papers in this weeks Arabidopsis Research Roundup investigate different aspects of the plants response to temperature fluctuations. Firstly Lars Ostergaard (JIC) looks at the influence of temperature in the control of fruit dehiscence whilst Phil Wigge (SLCU) investigates crosstalk between chloroplast and nuclear signaling. The third paper from Ian Henderson (University of[…]

Charles Melnyk discusses a new paper published in PNAS that describes the molecular events that occur during grafting. The paper is entitled ‘Transcriptome dynamics at Arabidopsis graft junctions reveal an intertissue recognition mechanism that activates vascular regeneration‘ http://blog.garnetcommunity.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Melynk_180301.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS

This edition of the Arabidopsis Research roundup beings with a study from SLCU that provides a molecular context to the changes that occur at graft junctions. Second is a study from Edinburgh that reports on the findings of a citizen science plant phenotyping project. Third are two studies from the John Innes Centre that follow-on[…]

This weeks Arabidopsis Research Roundup begins with a study from SLCU that investigates the interaction between nitrate and cytokinin signaling in the shoot meristem. Next is research from Sheffield that studies changes to the macromolecular composition of the photosynthetic apparatus following the transition from dark to light. Third are three papers that include University of[…]

GARNet with support from the Bristol Centre for Agricultural Innovation and New Phytologist are organising a Gene Editing Workshop that will take place at the University of Bristol on March 26th-27th 2018. This workshop is designed to encourage interactions and discussion about the use of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in plant systems. We are encouraging ECRs[…]

The cellular mechanics of auxin perception and signaling have been well studied over the past two decades. The pivotal interaction that controls this activity involves the auxin-dependent contact between the TIR1 receptor and a family of transcriptional regulators called AuxIAA proteins. This interaction has been characterised at a structural level with the auxin indole-3-acetic acid[…]

This weeks Arabidopsis Research Roundup begins with two papers from Royal Hollaway University of London that investigate the factors that control leaf development in the dark and the control of PIN1 phosphorylation. Third is a paper from Bristol that demonstrates the translation of research from Arabidopsis into coriander with regard the control of the response[…]

Enrique Lopez-Juez (Royal Holloway University of London) introduces a paper from that attempts to answer a critical question in plant science ‘Why do plants makes leaves in the dark‘? http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/early/2017/12/28/pp.17.01730.long http://blog.garnetcommunity.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Lopez_180116.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS